Posh Tom at the double
TOM Allen is always dressed like he’s going to a posh wedding, and yet, bizarrely, we never see him out of the kitchen, which is the least suitable place for dry-cleanonly garb.Wear a pinny, man!
Still, regardless of his inappropriate attire,Tom certainly brings a dollop of hilarity to his various food-themed TV gigs – he’s host of Bake Off: An Extra Slice and tonight we’re dished up a double serving of Tom when he co-hosts the final of BAKE OFF: THE PROFESSIONALS (BBC1, 8pm) and COOKING WITH THE STARS (ITV, 9pm). On Bake Off, he and Liam Charles preside over the action as the remaining trio of teams produce some truly amazing chocolate artworks.
First off, they get four hours to make hats entirely out of chocolate that they must model themselves – one is a chocolate crown based on the Brighton Pavilion, and another boasts a flower so delicate it’s hard to believe it’s just confectionary.The final, seven-hour challenge is to create a banquet centrepiece to feed 60 people.
Judges Benoit Blin and Cherish Finden are unstinting in their criticism, but then again they’re looking for excellence.The whole competition is less fun than normal Bake Off, because everyone takes patisserie seriously at this level.
Not so much on CookingWith The Stars, where the mood is chatty kitchen camaraderie rather than po-faced proficiency.
Tonight the remaining contestants attempt to scale a culinary Everest, with a cuisine – Indian – they’re familiar with eating but not cooking. So they’ll have to switch off the Deliveroo app and get slicing and dicing. But as the stakes are not that high it’s all good fun, and despite his formal attire,TomAllen and co-host Emma Willis keep the mood informal.
Kate Humble is one of those glass-half-full people who always cheers up a TV show. She has the enthusiasm of an Andrex puppy and a can-do attitude that makes you want to hang out with her. But even Kate’s joie de vivre fails to rub off on participants in tonight’s new run of A COUNTRY LIFE FOR HALF THE PRICE WITH KATE HUMBLE (Channel 5, 8pm). She follows couple Dawn and Richard Erskine from Cardiff as they relocate to a tumbledown Welsh longhouse in Ceredigion, mid-Wales, with their daughter and her family.The idea is to pack in the day jobs and live a simpler country life. Does it happen?
Does it heck! It turns out they’ve taken on a beast of a project in renovating the house and rundown gardens in a bid to make the land earn money.They’re forced to do backbreaking yard work and construction in all weathers, and that’s in addition to the day jobs.
Even with Kate popping in to cheer them on, some look like they long for the soft city life. Still, you’ll admire their pluck.